Officer in Eric Garner death has 24-hour NYPD protection, panic button because of death threats, court docs reveal

In an affidavit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Daniel Pantaleo says the NYPD has stationed two cops in a patrol car outside his home.

The police officer under federal investigation for the choking death of Eric Garner is getting 24-hour protection from the NYPD because of death threats, according to court documents released Wednesday.

In an affidavit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Daniel Pantaleo says the NYPD has stationed two cops in a patrol car outside his Staten Island home to keep him and his family safe. The department also installed surveillance cameras and a panic button in the house, he says.

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He also complains that he's been "harassed, embarrassed and subjected to character assassination" — problems he blames on the Civilian Complaint Review Board, not his own actions in the notorious Garner case.

Pantaleo, 30, made the disclosures in court papers urging state Supreme Court Justice Alice Schlesinger to reject a request by the Legal Aid Society to make public the number of complaints that have been made about him to the CCRB.

Legal Aid lawyers also want to know if any of the complaints were sustained and if so, how many.

Pantaleo said CCRB data about him has already been leaked improperly and, as a result, a Michigan man was arrested earlier this year and charged with threatening to behead him.

Daniel Pantaleosaid he’s been harassed over July 2014 death of Eric Garner. (NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

That man has been undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

"Because certain CCRB records have already been improperly released, without my knowledge or permission, I have actually been harassed, embarrassed and subjected to character assassination," Pantaleo wrote.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the information . . . (sought by Legal Aid) will be used to continue to harass and embarrass me, creating a continued serious risk to the personal safety of myself and my family."

Pantaleo became a lightning rod on July 17, 2014, when he put the 43-year-old Garner in an apparent chokehold on a Staten Island street, and a video captured the confrontation.

Garner — who pleaded, "I can't breathe"— died a short time later.

Pantaleo became a lightning rod on July 17, 2014, when he put the 43-year-old Garner in an apparent chokehold on a Staten Island street, and a video captured the confrontation.

A grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo on criminal charges in December, setting off a wave of protests around the country. He's still being investigated by the feds.

Legal Aid attorney Cynthia Conti-Cook told Schlesinger last month that the public should be able to know at least how many complaints there have been against Pantaleo, and whether any were sustained. She said that's essential for there to be an informed public debate about whether the CCRB is functioning well as a vehicle for handling civilian complaints about alleged police misconduct.

The review board and city attorneys oppose the release of any information, saying such complaints are part of an officer's personnel records and state law prohibits their disclosure.

Schlesinger said that before she decided, she wanted to hear from Pantaleo and his union lawyers and she agreed to make Pantaleo a party to the case. That means that if she rules against him, he will have a right to file an appeal.